With or without Odom, in my mind the Ron Artest pickup makes LA the team to beat this coming year. Plug Odom into that lineup, and that team will be an absolute force.
My spider senses tell me that Odom will end up in Miami actually, he won his ring already and wont have to put up with Kobe (who I think he can't stand). Even if he does go elsewhere, though, I'm not as sure as others on this board that Odom & Ariza (role players at best) > Artest, who I think is one of the biggest impact players in the game. Artest adds a defensive presence that they have been missing, and brings the toughness that I enjoyed watching LA suffer without for the last two years. He also a brilliant anti-hero to add to a foe, makes them a beautiful antagonist. A very scary team, and with Bynum healthy, Kobe rested and their identity issues worked out I can say that I for one am looking forward to an epic battle between these two teams next year. No one else is even in the conversation, no disrespect to SA, CL or Orlando...